Enlightenment
by Coltan Heart
Summary: Dasey/Sasey "I can't get away from you!" He yelled, seething with anger. "Everywhere I turn, there you are, trying to take over my life!" Right in the end of Male Code Blue. Instead of giving Sam permission to ask Casey out, he confronts her himself.


**Enlightenment**

"What is _wrong_ with you? Would it have killed you to just _butt out_?" Casey demanded, struggling to get out of Sam's grip so that she could tackle Derek.

_I could throttle him! Why does he have to ruin _everything?

Derek popped his collar, holding up his hands in a surrendering gesture.

"Like me liking your best friend is _so_ threatening to you!"

_As a matter of fact, it _is, _not that _you_ care._

"Okay, don't blame me. Sam's the one who listened to me," Derek said in his defense. Casey looked between them thoughtfully, realizing that he had a point.

"You're right." Then she grabbed Sam, whirled him around and shoved him to the ground. "_What_ is wrong with _you_? How could you listen to _Derek_?"

_Don't you have a mind of your own? Don't you like me enough to stand up to him? Some knight in shining armor _you_ turned out to be._

Sam, still sitting, agreed with her quickly, saying, "I don't know. I'm, I'm an idiot."

_Man, now she thinks that I have no backbone. But how am I supposed to go behind Derek's back like that? He's my best bud. We've been friends since we were kids. No matter how much I like a girl, it's not worth losing my best friend._

"Yeah, you are, which is why you both deserve each other," Casey announced, looking superior. "And I don't want to be responsible for ruining ten years of friendship between two _idiots_!" She yelled, stomping past him up the stairs.

As soon as she was gone, Derek said frankly, "Well, can't say I'm sorry it _didn't_ work out between you two." He paused. "But, uh…" Laughing, he continued, "Seriously, dude, how funny would that been: you and _Casey_?" The truth was that he was relieved. Derek didn't want Casey and Sam getting together. It wasn't really brotherly protectiveness that made him try to keep them apart. And, though it was weird, he could get over that so that his best friend could be happy. But he was selfish.

Still, when he saw the depressed look on his best friend's face, he felt a sharp tug in his stomach.

"Too soon for jokes, huh?"

_I blew it. I really like Casey and she really liked me, but because I wouldn't stand up for what I want, I ruined my chances. Sure, Derek's being selfish, but he often is. I'm used to it. He probably would've gotten over it eventually. But there's no point in risking it now._

"You know what, man? I'm just going to go watch TV," Sam replied, standing up and walking over to the couch. Derek watched his best friend plop down, sinking into the cushions and remembered something.

* * *

_"Hey, man, what's up?" Derek asked his friend, walking over to sit on the school steps with him. Sam shot him a forced smile and then looked back at the car lanes, watching for a green minivan._

_"Nothing much," Sam answered. He knew that Derek didn't like to talk about sad stuff, and that was okay. He could always talk to his mom or any one of his sisters when he got home._

_Derek gave his friend a small shove and said, "Really, dude, I know something's bothering you. Just tell me what's up." _

_Sighing, Sam answered, "You remember how I told you that I was going to ask out Katie Randy?" Derek nodded, actually listening for once._

She's pretty cute. If Sammy didn't like her, I'd probably ask her out myself.

Oh. He's talking again. Pay attention, man. This is important.

_"Well, I asked her out right after seventh period, and she laughed at me. She said, 'Why would I ever want to go out with _you_, Sam. You always wear that stupid hat and you just follow Derek around everywhere. Are you in love with him or something?'_ _Then all of her friends laughed and they walked away." Bending over and leaning on his arms, he added miserably, "It'll probably be all over school by lunch tomorrow."_

_Derek silently fumed. How could she treat his best friend like that? Sam was probably the nicest guy in the world, and she not only blew him off, but she insulted and publicly humiliated him._

She has to pay. No one treats _my_ best friend like that and gets away with it.

_The next day, when Katie opened up her locker, a giant bowl of red punch splattered all over her and she screamed. She just happened to be wearing brand new white suede boots that were totally ruined. Sam saw the whole thing and actually felt bad for her, but it _did _make him feel better to know that he had a friend who cared that much about him._

_"No girl will _ever_ come between us," Derek promised, putting out his hand._

_"Never," Sam agreed, shaking on it. _

* * *

They had stuck to their promise. No girl ever _had_ come between them. 

_Not until Casey came along. What on earth does he see in her anyway? She's just a selfish, over-dramatic, preppy, tidy, high-strung princess with a feminist agenda. Not only is she outspoken about her opinions, but she pushes them on other people._

Derek blamed her for the whole problem. It was her fault that he was fighting with Sam. It was _her_ fault for shamelessly throwing herself at his best friend. He didn't blame her for having good taste, but she should have backed off and left him alone.

With that thought in mind, Derek raced up the stairs and pounded on Casey's door.

As soon as she opened the door, asking, "What, do you--", he pushed past her. "Hey! You can't just barge in here!"

"Why not? You_ barged_ right into my life!" Derek yelled as she closed the door behind him.

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm _talking_ about you moving in on my territory and butting into my life! Is there _anything_ in my life that you could just leave alone?" He ranted. She tried to respond, but he cut her off, "First you barged into my family, then you elbowed your way into my school, _then_ you started interfering with my _dates_…"

"Wait a second. When have I interfered with any of your _dates_?" She demanded. "If you can call them that."

"Oh, very cute. How about _Sandra_?" Casey cleared her throat and shut up. He was right about that one and she couldn't deny it. "Yeah. That's right. I remember it even though _you_ obviously don't." He paused. "And now that you've wormed your way into every other area of my life, you have to move in on Sam. You would_ think_ that you could leave me _one_ safe haven, but no. You even try to take my best friend away from me."

"What? No, I'm not trying to take him away from you," Casey replied, trying to explain.

"I can't get away from you!" He yelled, seething with anger. "Everywhere I turn, there you are, trying to take over my life!"

"No, I--"

"_I_ was here first!" He exclaimed, talking _at_ her more than _to_ her.

"I'm sorry!" She shouted as the dam broke loose and tears poured down her cheeks.

Derek froze, watching Casey fall back to sit on her bed, bringing her knees up so that she could rest her head on them.

Without looking at him, she said, "I never meant to do any of that. I'm not trying to take over your home or your friends or anything." She finally looked up at him and Derek decided that it was worse when he could _see_ her crying. "I just…you_ know_ that I didn't choose to be in this family," she pointed out, quickly added, "not that I don't want to be, because I do. And Thompson High is just where Mom and George decided that I should go. Believe me, I would have picked another one, if they had let me." Then she wiped her eyes, looking around for a tissue.

Derek, who understood what she was searching for, wordlessly retrieved the tissue box from her dresser and handed it to her.

"Thank you." Casey dabbed her eyes and blew her nose as graciously as possible. Derek, who was still shocked and felt extremely uncomfortable, nodded stiffly and tried to figure out if she'd notice if he slowly backed out of the room.

But then she looked up at him with her big, sad blue eyes and he couldn't move.

"I really wasn't trying to take Sam away from you, Derek. I didn't mean to like him." Laughing and sniffling, she added, "Surprisingly, you have good taste in picking your friends." Then, calmly, she continued, "I can see why you like him so much. He's a really great guy."

Forlornly, she stared at the floor as her fingers folded and unfolded the clean tissue in her hands. Derek stared at her and suddenly something clicked.

_"Be nice to Casey. Even though she's kind of selfish sometimes, she doesn't mean to be. She really cares about people-- including you, -even when you don't deserve it."_

Casey cared about him. Even when he pranked, annoyed, and was downright cruel to her, she was willing to help him out when he got himself in trouble.

_"We can do this."_

He thought about how she stayed up all night with him to finish the English project and even grade-grubbed, all so that he would get a passing mark that he didn't even deserve.

_Emerging from the basement, Derek followed Casey into the kitchen, where she apologetically announced, "Mom, George, even though I _hate_ basements with every fiber of my being, I _will_ take the basement bedroom because you're both great and I'm really happy you're together. And I just don't want to cause any more trouble."_

Casey was willing to give up what she wanted for the people she loved. Even though she really disliked her new stepsiblings and was unhappy about having to change her whole life, she was willing to do it all just to make her mother happy.

_"I like her, Smerek. She's pretty and she danced with me. Can we keep her?"_

Marti had a sense for people's character. She could usually tell if a person was genuinely good or was just pretending to be. She saw through Vicky right away. Even though it took her a while to get used to her, Marti liked Casey.

_"Whoa, dude. Your stepsister is--"_

Sam, like Marti, had pretty good judgement when it came to people. And, he was right. Casey _was_ hot, especially dressed up like Babe Raider.

"Derek?"

"Nothing!" Derek squeaked, looking down at Casey, who was staring at him with a confused expression on his face.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded vigorously, stuttering, "Yeah, I just, uh, well." Derek cleared his throat. "Look, I kind of went off on you and I realize that, uh, you didn't really do anything wrong. I've just been, um, yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "So, forget everything I said, and I'm going to go now."

Before she could get a word in, Derek whirled around and flew out the door.

He finally saw what his best friend liked about Casey.

_Sorry, Sammy Boy, but you'll _never_ get my permission to go out with her now_, especially_ if I can get her to out with _me_ first._

It was going to be a lot of work. Casey wasn't an easy to girl to win over, particularly if you were her stepbrother. But, luckily for Derek, he happened to love a good challenge, and he was pretty sure that she would be worth it.

* * *

**A/N:** Well, it has to be a one-shot for now, but if I get some real plot ideas for it and positive feedback, I might write more once I'm done with my current project. What do you guys think? 

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Life With Derek or any of its characters.


End file.
